INC NEWS - Sierra Club honors mayors for being cool (N&O and Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Under the Dome: Sierra Club honors mayors
News & Observer, 15 November 2005

Durham and Chapel Hill leaders earned their towns a
"Cool Cities" designation from the Sierra Club, thanks
to supporting efforts to curb global warning.

At 10 a.m. today outside Durham City Hall, the Sierra
Club will recognize Durham Mayor William Bell and
Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy for signing the U.S.
Mayors Climate Protection agreement. By doing so, Bell
and Foy joined 188 other mayors nationwide pledging to
achieve a 7 percent reduction in global warming
emissions from 1990 levels by 2012.

The only question is this: Why didn't Raleigh Mayor
Charles Meeker also sign?

Meeker said Monday that he didn't think he could sign
the pledge since the City Council didn't consider it.
However, Meeker announced Monday that he wants the
council to create an environmental board, which would
look at ways the city can conserve energy.

"I felt a more substantive approach would be more
meaningful over time," Meeker said.

****

Durham, Chapel Hill 'cool cities'
Herald-Sun, 16 November 2005

Sierra Club cites efforts to combat global warming
It's official: Durham and Chapel Hill are cool cities.


But when Sierra Club activists say that, they aren't
necessarily using "cool" as a synonym for "hip." They
mean cool literally, in the sense that both cities are
pursuing policies meant to combat global warming. 

Mayors Bill Bell and Kevin Foy have both signed
resolutions committing their governments to trying to
achieve a 7 percent reduction in the emission of
greenhouse gases by 2012. 

"There's a lot of denial going on about global
warming," Foy said Tuesday after he and Bell accepted
"cool city" certificates from club activists. "We have
recognized that it's real ... and we're trying to
solve it at the local level." 

Sierra Club leaders say Durham and Chapel Hill are
just two of the 183 U.S. cities whose mayors have
signed the pledge. 

During Tuesday's ceremony, Bell said Durham's
government has tried to honor its pledge by telling
the designers of its planned performing arts center
and downtown transit station to make the buildings "as
energy efficient as possible," to cut down on fuel use
and emissions. 

Sierra Club member John Schelp added that the
city/county comprehensive plan and the still-unpassed
"unified development ordinance" would discourage urban
sprawl. 

Chapel Hill Town Councilman Bill Strom, who introduced
Foy, said Chapel Hill has discouraged road widenings
and made its bus system fare-free in hopes of cutting
pollution. 

The free system is "a remarkable success" that appears
likely to serve more than 6 million riders this year,
he said. 

****